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in the early 1970s sydney shacknow
commanded an elite unit of covert
operators in berlin to prevent the
outbreak of world war iii against the
soviet union
the major general was born in lithuania
and survived both the communist regime
of the soviet union and the nazi
sovereignty during world war ii
after escaping from a concentration camp
with his family he reached american
occupied nuremberg and eventually fled
to the united states when he was only
16. shaq now then joined the army and
fought in the vietnam war as a special
forces operator
he was after serving two tours there
that he would risk his life to prevent
another devastating global catastrophe
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a war against the jews
during adolf hitler's rise to power in
the late 1920s anti-judaism took over
the streets of germany
many world war one veterans from the
kaiser's army believed that germany had
lost the conflict because the jews
failed to economically support the
country and as world war ii approached
anti-semitic views it spread all over
the population
jews began to be treated harshly and
many were expelled from their homes and
relocated to ghettos or concentration
camps some of them fled to eastern
european countries only to find
themselves under the cruel regime of the
soviet union
others were sent to forced labor camps
along with protestant and catholic
political prisoners where they starved
to death under inhumane conditions
the situation only got worse as the
united kingdom and france declared war
on germany and world war ii began
in the summer of 1941 the third reich
forces launched operation barbarossa to
take down the soviet union and the
germans were initially greeted as
liberators by former communist countries
however as guerrillas and partisans
infiltrated the civilian population and
many jews failed to cooperate with the
new government the german authorities
turned violent and thousands of jews
from the occupied countries were
relocated to forced labor camps
sydney shocknow and his family were
among them
[Music]
a survivor
[Music]
sydney was born in cownes lithuania in
november of 1934. his country was
occupied by the soviet union in 1940 and
1941 and the soviets were brutal and
unrelenting in their treatment of the
population as the blitzkrieg forces
advanced towards eastern europe and
germany took control of lithuania they
were greeted as saviors
when sydney was seven his family and
many other jews were hastily relocated
to the coveno ghetto with almost 20 000
people
for almost three years sid was forced to
work under extremely harsh conditions
and was given little to no food
but as many acquaintances began to lose
their battle against starvation sid's
family decided to escape
[Music]
during their first attempt sid's father
fled to join russian partisans
sid with an escape with the help of his
uncle willie by hiding under his long
coat and moving in tandem with him
when his uncle gave him the signal sid
ran across the ghetto gates and he and
his brother hid in the storage room for
days before a catholic family gave them
shelter
after reuniting with their parents by
mid-1944 the shaknow family fled from
lithuania
thus began a two thousand mile journey
that took them six months on foot
they crossed lithuania poland hungary
austria and czechoslovakia to get to
american occupied nuremberg
from 1945 to 1950 sid resorted to black
market contraband to support his family
he also learned german a skill that
would come in handy in the future
[Music]
the green berets
in 1950 the shaknow family obtained a
visa and traveled to salem massachusetts
in the united states
his parents struggled to adapt to
american culture but sid made the most
out of it
at age 16 he attended school for the
first time where he worked to support
his family in the afternoons
sid struggled with english but was able
to finish high school in 1955.
he also fell in love with his school
sweetheart arlene armstrong a roman
catholic he then joined the us army as
an infantryman
although he had no clear understanding
of what he wanted to do with his life
sid decided that the military offered
him more than he could achieve by
himself he would later say quote i had
many opportunities in the military and
when opportunity knocks you get up off
your ass and open the door
sid was quickly accepted among his peers
and was able to save enough money to
marry arlene
his parents vehemently opposed the union
to which he once told them quote join
the new world america the melting pot
have you even taken a step into this
world you both live in the past
sid steadily climbed through the ranks
in the army
from private he moved to sergeant first
class of the fourth armored division in
late 1960.
he then became a u.s citizen and earned
a commission as an army infantry officer
in 1962 the army began recruiting
selected men for green berets training
the now company commander applied and
was accepted at the rank of captain
during an interview with henry levy from
the jewish post sid would recall his
training days quote
it was hard before you start it's like
climbing a mountain
when you're at the bottom it's difficult
when you're on the top looking down it's
not too bad
as cold war tensions rose with the cuban
missile crisis the bay of pig's invasion
and the escalation of the conflict in
vietnam the united states military
readied for war the green berets which
sit among them would then become the
founding pillars of the us special
forces
[Music]
fighting in vietnam
sydney was given command of detachment
a121 of the special forces when the
american military involvement in vietnam
began in 1965.
the unit was sent to unlong along the
mekong river in vietnam's border with
cambodia
a121 operated in small numbers behind
enemy lines and led sabotage
reconnaissance and search and rescue
missions among other daring endeavors
during his first tour sydney was shot in
a leg and an arm after an encounter with
vietcong troops in the depths of the
jungle
still that did not stop him from
fighting
he applied a tourniquet to his wounds
and kept firing at the enemy leading his
men away from the heat of the battle
while healing from his combat wounds
sydney was diagnosed with typhoid fever
tuberculosis and other common illnesses
from vietnam
he was then awarded his first silver
star and purple heart after recovering
sydney returned to the u.s to earn his
bachelor's degree from the university of
nebraska he then attained the rank of
major and returned to india china for a
second tour
the officer was now assigned to the
legendary 101st airborne division and
participated in many encounters with the
paratroopers he would eventually earn
several more medals and a second silver
star for his bravery on the battlefield
but as the us began its withdrawal from
vietnam amidst cold war tensions in the
early 1970s sydney was tasked with the
peculiar challenge to form an elite
group of green berets for a top-secret
mission in berlin
preparing for world war iii
sydney was sent to germany as commander
of detachment a berlin brigade a covert
unit that stood on high alert for 24
hours a day in case the soviets decided
to invade and ignite world war iii at
first detachment a was composed of 40
men whose rank and identity were
classified
their selection had been a thorough
process
they all needed to speak several
languages know their way around berlin
and be able to blend in with the
civilian population
they were also tasked with training
civilians in guerrilla-style combat
while nato forces arrived to support
them
the operators were divided in teams and
had strong fighting skills
they could also conduct sabotage
missions and search and destroy
operations for high value targets
as a holocaust survivor now general
shaknow was greeted in berlin with an
ominous aura
he was given main quarters that used to
belong to nazi official hermann goring
and finance minister fritz reinhardt
shaq now would tell reporter henry levy
that quote at a dinner with my russian
counterpart and senior kgb officers they
were laughing
when i asked them why they replied here
you are a jew you were liberated by us
the russians
now you were defending the germans who
had incarcerated you and committed
atrocities against your people while you
were getting ready to fight us your new
enemy
the green berets under the command of
general shaknow knew the operation could
turn into a suicide mission any minute
as they could be captured by the
communists and be tortured or worse if
they failed to cooperate
still they greeted and socialized with
the enemy on a daily basis
[Music]
freedom
for almost a decade the berlin brigade
remained on high alert and ready for
combat but they never fired a shot and
kept the city safe until the berlin wall
came down in 1989
sydney would eventually become major
general and receive several awards and
degrees from military and civilian
corporations
he then retired at the age of 60 after
almost 40 years of active duty and
published his autobiography entitled
hope and honor in 2004.
the berlin operation would remain
classified for decades until a ceremony
was held outside the headquarters of the
special operations command in 2014
this would be the unit's first public
appearance
major general shaknow would later say
that the berlin brigade was quote a
small covert unit staffed with
incredibly talented people willing to
make the ultimate sacrifice
they served in the front lines of the
cold war and never fired a shot in anger
no force of its size in history has
contributed more to peace stability and
freedom
[Music]
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